Tracking Downtown Toronto's Amazing Building Boom.

Checking in on the new 5-star hotel/condo towers: The Trump International Hotel + Tower

August 1 2011: The Trump Toronto Tower viewed from Adelaide Street West near the Living Shangri-La Toronto (left), another new skyscraper I will profile in an upcoming installment of “Checking in on the 5-star hotel/condo towers”

August 1 2011: The north side of Trump Toronto, looking up from Adelaide Street

From my balcony, I’ve been able to watch the penthouse levels of the 60-storey tower gradually take shape during the past two weeks, climbing into view above the top of the Bay Adelaide Centre. I expect completion of the mechanical floors above them to follow soon. And once its signature “quarter onion”-shaped turret has been built to cap the tower’s northwest corner, and in turn is topped with a spire, the Trump Tower Toronto will become the city’s second-tallest building, after First Canadian Place.

Designed by Toronto’s Zeidler Partnership Architects, the Trump Toronto will rise more than 900 feet on its compact site at the southeast corner of Bay and Adelaide Streets. According to the project website, the building will include 261 luxury hotel rooms on its lower levels in studio, 1- and 2-bedroom configurations, along with five Trump Executive suites. There also will be 118 condominium suites from floors 33 to 60, accessed via a Sky Lobby with concierge on the 31st floor. Condo residents will enjoy “full access” to the hotel’s amenities, including room service, housekeeping, concierge and valet. A five-star restaurant will occupy the 30th floor, while there will be an entire floor of executive meetings rooms in a “high-tech business centre.” A full-service spa with gym, exercise studios and swimming pool will occupy two levels of the building. The ground floor will feature a “sophisticated” lobby bar, while floors 2 through 7 will contain a valet-operated parking garage.

The Trump Hotel Collection website is currently accepting online reservations for Trump Toronto beginning November 1 of this year. Today, the site’s reservation system showed seven suites available for the night of Nov. 1; the lowest available price was $485 (plus tax) for either a superior king or superior double room, each 550 square feet in size. A 1,000-square-foot grand deluxe 1-bedroom suite with panoramic views was available for $885 (plus tax), while a 1,650-square-foot grand deluxe two-bedroom suite with city views and a kitchen was going for $1,785 (plus tax).

Below is a series of Trump Toronto photos I shot during the summer.

June 6 2011: The Trump Toronto crane stands prominently on the skyline

June 20 2011: Looking up at Scotia Plaza, the Trump Toronto, and Bay Adelaide Centre (right) from the sidewalk on Adelaide Street West